Hypodermic needles are notorious for spreading blood-borne diseases such as Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (“HIV”), the virus that causes Autoimmune Deficiency Syndrome (“AIDS”). Health care workers are among those most at risk for contracting such diseases, as hypodermic needles are commonly used in medical fields. Needle stick injuries may arise during planned use and exposure, and/or as a result of carelessly or maliciously discarded needles.
The Federal Needle Stick Safety Act was enacted into law on Nov. 6, 2000, and is aimed at reducing the risk to health care workers arising from accidental needle sticks. Among other compliance mandates, the Federal Needle Stick Safety Act requires the use of needles with engineered needle injury protections. Accordingly, many hypodermic needles manufactured today include a needle tip shield or the like to protect against accidental needle sticks.
Of particular concern, however, are injuries from hollow-bore needles, especially those used for blood collection or intravenous (“IV”) catheter insertion. These devices are likely to contain residual blood and are associated with an increased risk for HIV transmission. Additionally, devices that require manipulation or disassembly after use, such as hollow-bore needles used for IV catheter insertion, have rates of injury over five times that for disposable hypodermic syringes. Such injuries most often occur during or after use and before disposal of the used needle.
IV catheters are traditionally used to infuse fluids, such as saline solution, various medicaments, and/or total parenteral nutrition into a patient. Such catheters may also be used to withdraw blood from a patient, and/or monitor various parameters of the patient's vascular system.
To introduce an IV catheter into a patient, an over-the-needle catheter may be mounted over a hollow-bore introducer needle having a sharp distal tip. The inner surface of the catheter may tightly engage the outer surface of the needle to prevent catheter peelback and facilitate insertion of the catheter into a blood vessel. The tip of the introducer needle may extend beyond the distal tip of the catheter to enable insertion of the catheter at a shallow angle through the patient's skin and into a blood vessel.
To verify proper placement of the needle and catheter in the blood vessel, the clinician may confirm the presence of “flashback” blood in a flashback chamber associated with the catheter and needle assembly. Once proper placement is confirmed, the clinician may then apply pressure to the blood vessel to occlude the vessel, thereby minimizing further blood flow through the introducer needle and catheter. The clinician must then withdraw the needle from the catheter to enable continued access to the blood vessel through the catheter. This process of physically manipulating and disassembling the needle and catheter after the catheter has been properly positioned creates substantial risks of accidental needle sticks and exposure to blood and blood-borne pathogens.
From the foregoing discussion, it should be apparent that a need exists for a safety device integral to an intravenous catheter assembly to prevent injury from accidental needle sticks and exposure to biological contaminants after the catheter has been positioned in a blood vessel. Beneficially, such a safety device would enable simple and effective operation, minimize an amount of physical manipulation needed to disassemble the catheter assembly after use, and ensure that the needle tip is properly secured prior to such disassembly. Such a safety device is disclosed and claimed herein.